Advances in electronic miniaturization technology has led to the design of extremely light and compact music players of brands such as the Nanopod™ and the Shuffle™, Satellite Receivers (Sirius™ and XM™) and has made possible the incorporation of these devices into clothing such as headgear. While prior art describes hats configured to hold such music players, the approaches described by previous inventors are far from optimum. At issue with the configurations suggested by the prior art are manufacturing costs, obtrusiveness of the music player and flexibility of its use.
In addition, one of the problems that the prior art does not address is the blocking of environmental sounds by the insertion of earphones into the user's ears. The muffling of sound presents a danger to the user when he drives a car or rides a bicycle. Several states have enacted laws prohibiting the insertion of earphones into ears by users performing these tasks. This invention solves the aforementioned problems.
Several US patents describe systems that incorporate music players in hats. For example U.S. Pat. No. 5,410,746 by Gelber describes a cap capable of carrying an AM/FM radio. In this system the user has only two choices: either he places the earphones in his ears, and therefore hears music but blocks out sounds from his environment; or he stores the earphones in the brim of his hat or bill of his cap, and therefore can hear sounds from his environment but cannot hear any music at all. In addition, the user cannot listen to music without blocking surrounding sounds. Conversely, he cannot listen to surrounding sounds while playing music in the background.
US patent application 2003/0196249 by Roberts incorporates speakers into a ski hat. Cables connect the speakers to the music generator which may be located outside the hat. The cables are cumbersome as they must run from the hat to the music player which would be located in a trouser pocket for example. Again, the user cannot listen to music without blocking surrounding sounds. Conversely, he cannot listen to surrounding sounds while playing music in the background.
US application 2006/0185062 by Peng describes a head mounted MP3 player. This device does not offer any convenient means for storing the earphones and does not allow the user to listen to music in the background or to easily access the player controls.
US application 2007/0226876 by Foust describes a headgear equipped with a pocket for holding a music player. This invention does not allow the user to listen to music in the background, or to easily access the player controls.
Most miniaturized music players today come equipped with a clip for attachment. None of the prior art takes advantage of this clip as a means for attaching the music player to the hat or allows easy access to player controls.
None of the prior art has an anti-theft capability or prevents the loss of the hat and the attached electronics in the event of a strong wind, or attempted theft.
Further features, aspects, and advantages of the present invention over the prior art will be more fully understood when considered with respect to the following detailed description claims and accompanying drawings.